Hobbies And Interests
Ice Fishing
Ice fishing is an exciting activity for preschool kids. With these very young children, it is best to use blue cellophane instead of water. Place the cellophane in a suitable bucket or tub on the classroom floor. The teacher will need to draw, cut out and laminate a number of fish, unless these are already available. Glue a small magnetic strip to the back of each and give the kids magnetic fishing poles. During the activity, the teacher can ask each child which ̶0;ice̶1; animals eat fish and how they manage to catch them in winter.
Reading Stories
"Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear?" by Bill Martin and "Every Autumn Comes the Bear" by Jim Arnosky are very suitable books to read to preschool kids. After the reading, the teacher has the opportunity to discuss why bears hibernate and why geese and other birds fly south to warmer regions. The teacher can later ask children to re-tell part of a story in their own words or to discuss with the class what they recall about each story. The class can discuss how big or small the animals are and the various noises that each makes. Children try to recall if they have seen such animals in a zoo or wildlife preserve.
Animal Art
Kids color in the picture of a winter animal that the teacher has supplied. Tell the kids to place cotton wool on the picture to represent snow and older children can paste popcorn on their pictures, to represent snow falling. Kids use paper, cardboard and other materials to make the shapes of winter animals, such as geese in flight.
Role Playing
Preschool kids act out the animal stories they have heard. Each child picks a winter animal to imitate. Kids who choose a bear will then crawl about the floor looking for a suitable cave and will roll up in a ball and begin to hibernate. Others in the class can guess what specific action they are watching.